2025 Pacific hurricane season

Season overview

With 20 tropical storms and an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 127.3 units, 2025 ran clearly above the long-term norm. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 averages are about 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes, with a near-normal ACE range of 80 to 115 units. It was the first Pacific season with twenty named storms since 2018.

Forecasts had pointed in different directions. Mexico's national weather service predicted an above-average season in early May, while NOAA's outlook later that month called for a near-average one, citing neutral ENSO conditions and a possible La Niña that would raise wind shear. In the end, sea surface temperatures running warmer than average off western Mexico helped the season outpace NOAA's outlook.

The site counts storms from US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage, which gives 20 tropical storms, 11 hurricanes of 64 kt or more and 5 major hurricanes of 96 kt or more. Official season tallies split the same storms by basin: 18 named storms, 10 hurricanes and 4 majors east of 140°W, plus 2 named storms, 1 hurricane and 1 major in the Central Pacific. Combined, they match the site's figures.

How the season unfolded

Tropical Storm Alvin opened the season on 28 May off southwestern Mexico, about two weeks earlier than the basin's average first named storm. June was unusually busy. Hurricane Barbara, the season's first hurricane, and Tropical Storm Cosme formed side by side on 8 June, and Tropical Storm Dalila followed on 13 June as the eastern Pacific's earliest fourth named storm since reliable records began in the 1970s. Hurricane Erick then developed on 17 June, and Hurricane Flossie formed on 29 June and rapidly intensified off the southwestern Mexican coast.

After Flossie lost its tropical characteristics on 3 July, the basin went quiet for more than three weeks. Activity resumed in the Central Pacific, where Hurricane Iona and Tropical Storm Keli formed on consecutive days south of Hawaii in late July and existed side by side. Hurricane Gil formed far offshore at the end of the month, and August added Hurricane Henriette, Tropical Storm Ivo, Tropical Storm Juliette and, on the last day of the month, Hurricane Kiko.

September brought Hurricane Lorena, which moved up toward Baja California Sur while Kiko was nearing its peak far to the west, along with Tropical Storm Mario, Hurricane Narda and Hurricane Octave. Mario had an unusual life, opening into a trough near Guerrero on 13 September before redeveloping into a stronger tropical storm well to the southwest. Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond followed in early October, and Tropical Storm Sonia, which stayed over open water, ended the season on 28 October. No storms formed in November.

Strongest storms

Hurricane Kiko was the season's strongest storm, peaking at 125 kt (Category 4) with a minimum pressure of 945 hPa early on 4 September, far southwest of the Baja California peninsula. NHC based that peak on satellite estimates, since Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft did not reach the storm until several days later. Kiko was also the longest-lived storm in the archive, with about 11 days of track data, as it moved west across 140°W and later passed north of the Hawaiian Islands.

Hurricane Erick had the lowest pressure of the year at 944 hPa, with a peak of 120 kt as a Category 4 on 19 June. Its intensification was unusually fast: once it developed an inner core, Erick grew from a tropical storm into a major hurricane in about 30 hours and completed an eyewall replacement cycle before peaking just off the coast of Oaxaca.

Three more storms reached major hurricane strength. Hurricane Iona peaked at 115 kt in the Central Pacific on 29 July, a small storm whose winds rose by as much as 60 kt in 24 hours. Hurricane Flossie reached 105 kt on 2 July after passing close to southwestern Mexico, and Hurricane Priscilla reached 100 kt on 7 October south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California before dry air, wind shear and cooler water weakened it quickly.

Hurricane Henriette never became a major hurricane, but NHC noted its path as rare. After weakening to a remnant low on its way into the Central Pacific, it regenerated and reached its peak of 75 kt on 11 August well north of Hawaii, where cooler waters and stronger wind shear usually prevent tropical cyclones from strengthening.

Landfalls and impacts

Hurricane Erick made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with estimated winds of 110 kt around 1130 UTC on 19 June in Santiago Domingo Armenta, in far western Oaxaca. It was the earliest major hurricane landfall on record on either coast of Mexico. NHC counts at least two deaths: one direct, a young boy who drowned in a swollen river in Guerrero, and one indirect, a man electrocuted during debris removal in Oaxaca. Damage assessments cited by NHC covered more than 42,000 homes, 468 schools and long stretches of highway across Oaxaca and Guerrero, with power cut to at least 276,885 customers. Agricultural losses in Oaxaca alone were estimated at about $119 million (2025 US dollars).

Other June storms stayed offshore but still reached the coast. Tropical Storm Dalila caused flooding and mudslides near Acapulco, with a media estimate of about US$40 million in damage (2025 dollars) and no known casualties. High surf from Hurricane Flossie caused one direct death when a young man was swept away at Playa Olas Altas in Manzanillo on 30 June.

From September on, Baja California Sur took repeated rain. Hurricane Lorena, which stayed just offshore, flooded homes and roads around Los Cabos and La Paz, and 119 people took shelter. NHC found no deaths that could be attributed to it. Flooding linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Mario damaged more than 60 homes and washed out part of the Transpeninsular Highway in San Ignacio, where one man died indirectly by electrocution. Hurricane Priscilla caused no reported casualties but left localized flood and surf damage near Puerto Vallarta and in Baja California Sur, where about 309 people were temporarily displaced.

In October, moisture from Priscilla and then Tropical Storm Raymond was drawn north into the southwestern United States, while Raymond's remnant low crossed the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Both storms contributed rain to wider flooding and landslides in several Mexican states that month. NHC could not conclusively link reported regional deaths to Raymond. Hurricane Kiko passed north of Hawaii with no reported damage and no coastal watches or warnings.

Records and names

Despite its activity, 2025 was the first Pacific season since 2022 without a Category 5 hurricane. The season also showed how early the basin can turn dangerous: Erick's June landfall broke the Mexican Pacific coast record for the earliest major hurricane landfall, previously held by Hurricane Kiko on 26 August 1989.

The eastern Pacific names came from the same list used in 2019, and none was retired, so the list returns in 2031. In the Central Pacific, Iona was used for the first time, replacing Iwa, which was retired after 1982.